We recently caught up with Vater Drumstick Artist Matt Johnson in Boston while he was on tour with St. Vincent. While Matt was here, we asked him to discuss his work on Jeff Buckley's "Grace" album as 2014 marks the 20th Anniversary of it's release. "Grace" was Jeff Buckley's only completed studio album to be released as Jeff died in a drowning accident in 1997.

In this video, Matt talks about meeting Jeff just a very short time before they tracked the album, and goes somewhat track-by-track to talk about his drum parts, the recording process for the album, how the drum set configuration varied, and how some aspects of his playing on that album were a result of, what he calls, "fear and stark terror" during the recording process.

Vater is very excited to
welcome iconic drummer Tim Alexander to the Artist Family. Tim was the drummer
in Primus from 1989-1996 and 2003-2009. Fellow Vater Artist Jay Lane
came back into Primus in 2009 until Tim’s return to the band in 2013.

Tim has also released 2
albums with Laundry and was also the first drummer in A Perfect Circle and can
be heard on “The Hollow” from the Mer de Noms album. Additionally, Tim
has also performed in the Blue Man Group as well as Maynard James Keenan’s
project, Puscifer.

The first official Primus show with Tim Alexander back on
drums was New Year's Eve 2013 at The Fox Theater in Oakland. The band performed
their first set with the original "Suck On This" backdrop hung on the stage. For their second
set, Primus performed the soundtrack from the 1971 film "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory" in
its entirety.

Tim Alexander is currently using a
Vater Tim Alexander prototype stick model made in maple along with the Vater Vintage Bomber Beater, and various mallets and specialty sticks.

Vater Artists on Tim Alexander:

"Pork Soda was my
first introduction to Tim Alexander's playing, and up until that point, I was
unaware of how creative one could be as a drummer. I spent many nights cobbling
together the craziest f-ing kits as I tried to harness even an ounce of what
that guy was doing." Miles McPherson.

“Listening to Tim
Alexander is like perpetually being musically head faked, his playing is so
creative and precise you never see it coming. It's what makes him a modern day
legend.” Mike Byrne [Smashing
Pumpkins]

“Tim Alexander was one of
my earliest and biggest influences. His playing has influenced a whole
generation and he's extremely humble about that. We got to play in Puscifer
together and it was awesome to not only work with him but to become friends.
Glad he's on board with Vater!” –Gil
Sharone [Stolen Babies]

"I had the pleasure
of watching Tim play from the side of the stage a few times and I was always
impressed by his incredible chops..but he played for the songs too. Effortlessly
marrying chops and musicality. Welcome to the Vater family!” Joe Sirois [Mighty Mighty Bosstones/Roll The Tanks]

"Every now and then
a drummer comes along that, with their musicality and innovative playing,
captures every musician's attention.....he's one of those drummers!" James Harrison [Drum Line Instructor: Boise State
University]

“A huge inspiration while I was growing
up learning how to play drums. I was always analyzing his playing and his drum
kit. He makes his grooves and fills extremely tasteful and makes such difficult
parts look easy. He is one of the best out there and great addition to the
Vater family!“ Nate Walker [Lit]

“A
master of groove and truly one of the most unique drummers out there, Tim
Alexander proves time and time again that anything is possible on a drum kit…all
he needs is a pair of VATER sticks!” –Cyrus Bolooki [New Found Glory]

"My teenage ticket to WTF is this!?…held together
by one hell of a drummer that covered the full spectrum of sonic possibilities
in a rock band. And the album covers had clay art which was cool! I had them
all...cassette tapes at that time, that is."
-Tony Escapa [Ricky Martin/Independent]